The present invention relates generally to imaging devices and light sources, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), and more particularly to a light source having a stable known luminance (brightness) which is independent of changes in ambient temperature for use in calibrating light sensors such as are in digital cameras and other imaging or processing devices.
Precision light sources have a wide variety of applications including calibrating digital cameras or light meters during the manufacturing process. To be useful for such applications the light sources need to have a constant luminosity, i.e., the intensity over some unit area needs to be constant over time and with changes in ambient conditions such as temperature. Most LEDs have good illumination characteristics and are often used as precision light sources due also in part to their size, cost to manufacture, spectral stability, and capability to emit light of different wavelengths. Yet, as is true of similar devices and light sources in general, the luminosity of LEDs varies with both temperature and age. When a current is initially applied, there is an immediate internal heating of the device causing a rapid change in luminosity. Even if allowed to “warm up” to reach an operating thermal state of equilibrium, the temperature of the device, and thus the luminosity, varies with changes in ambient temperature. In addition leaving the devices on for an extended period to maintain a constant temperature reduces the useful lifetime and can be costly. To overcome temperature variations, one could measure the temperature of the LEDs and make an appropriate correction of the drive current, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,784. This technique also may be costly when there are multiple LEDs being used (e.g., >100), and in addition measurement of temperature is not necessarily sufficient to accurately infer light output. Furthermore even if kept at a constant temperate, the luminosity will vary with aging of the devices. Another technique may be to measure the on-resistance (or voltage drop) at each light source to infer the temperature, and therefore to infer a corresponding light output. And yet another technique would be to maintain the light source at a fixed or constant temperature to insure there is a constant light output. Since there is significant self heating such temperature regulation would work best if the devices were cooled, rather than heated, which is generally more costly than heating systems and still this does not compensate for aging drifts in luminance or for the cost of multiple light sources.
While the following discussion focuses primarily on an economical long lasting solution to these problems, the invention has utility for many other types of applications than a calibrated light source having a constant luminance level for setting the sensitivity of digital cameras. For example our invention could be used for stabilizing the output of one or more light projectors in an image projection system.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one skilled in the art, through comparison of such devices with a representative embodiment of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.